By Leonard C Tekaat

Basically what has happened to our economy, the means of exchange has decreased significantly.

The Committee For Economic Reform and a Better Economic Future has developed an Alternative Economic Stimulus plan to restart our economy. It does not require the Federal government to create a huge deficit, to return consumer’s deposable income.

CSUB Professor of Economics Mark Evans was quoted as saying, we are going to have to live with large deficits for a long time, and there is no other way. We disagree with that statement. The Committee believes that there is another way. President Obama is relying on Keynesian Economics. John Maynard Keynes policies put governments into massive debt, to stimulate the economy and return people’s disposable income. Over time more government programs are created, increasing the size of government, as our economy cycles through periodic periods of recession and inflation.

Consumption and home creation represents 75% of the economic activity in our economy. The economy will not fully recover until the consumer’s financial condition and confidence improves. Investor confidence, in making long-term investments, needs to improve also. This will happen as the economy improves and when we enact the Zero Inflation Taxation Policy.

When the Federal Reserve lowered the Fed rate and the banks and other financial institutions could not follow the Fed’ lead, of lowering the cost of the means of exchange, the collapse of employment and the stock market occurred. If lower interest rates had been available, for credit worthy borrowers, the money supply would have quickly expanded, creating enough of the means of exchange for our economy to continue to work.

The recession would not have gotten out of control, causing the massive layoffs, decreasing people’s disposable income, there-by causing the economy to continue its downward spiral. Consumer and investor confidence was thus lost.

The enterprise economic system cannot operate efficiently, without the correct amount of the means of exchange (money) being in balance with available supply.

They are asking you for your endorsement and support of the Alternative Economic Stimulus Plan. They are asking you to please review it at their web site. They also want you to read the other economic policy papers first, so you will obtain a complete picture of why we are repeating the mistakes of the Great Depression. Without the changes we need to improve our economy, we will continue to repeat the mistakes of the past.

By Carlos G. Garcia

The current economic situation has been described as one of the worst recessions in recent history, and as a possible depression not seen since the Great Depression. Most economists agree that the current economic crisis has probably not hit the bottom, and that the road to recovery will be long and hard.

Personally, I believe that the recovery is within our reach.

If we take a look at how the current economic crisis is evolving, we tend to see a trend and what some call a vicious circle. Let me explain. Companies around the world are feeling the economic punch and are looking for ways to become profitable and to stay in business. Most companies look for ways to lower their costs by cutting salaries, re-negotiating salaries, and maybe even laying off workers.

If salaries are reduced, or if employees are let go, their spending power will be affected. People will start to re-evaluate their spending and will focus on covering basic necessities. By examining this effect, it becomes obvious that people will start to spend less and will try to save more. By doing so, they start consuming less goods that are not basic necessity.

Now, if people start spending less, companies that produce goods are affected directly by having lower sales volumes. This translates into companies having a difficult time covering expenses, and thus having to look for ways to cut costs, resulting in cutting salaries and laying off workers.

There you have it! The cycle begins again. Of course, one of the simple laws of economics comes into play: demand and supply. If the demand for a certain product decreases, the supply of this product has to adjust itself to the demand, in order to not have to lower the price of the goods. This makes sense, and is one of the primary reasons for the economic crisis, along with inflated prices for certain goods, the famous NINJA (no income, no job) credits, and in some cases, manipulation of information.

You are probably thinking, referencing the title of this article, what does this have to do with opportunity.

Well, opportunity is a key factor for getting out of this cycle. No matter what the economic situation is, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are trying to find new ways of generating income. Like some say: “The crisis brings out the best in us, it creates new ideas, it helps the creative process, and it makes us tougher and wiser”

With this concept in mind, one of the things we need, is the right attitude. By right attitude I mean, the will to fight, work hard, and find new ways of generating income so that the current economic crisis does not affect us.

If you sit at work all day, and then at home all night thinking only about the crisis, and how it is affecting, you are not helping yourself. You have to change your state of mind, and try to see the positive side of it. Think about how you can survive this crisis and what you can do to come out on top.

The basic concept follows the line of not depending on one single stream of income, like a job. You have to create multiple streams of income, so that if one fails, you still have the others to rely on. Basically, the more income streams you have, the better.

By: Aazdak Alisimo

Is global warming the biggest threat to us or not. The debate seems to sway back and forth depending on who you happen to be listening to at the time. So, who should you believe? Read the following and decide for yourself.

Global warming – at least the modern nightmare vision – is a myth. I am sure of it and so are a growing number of scientists. But what is really worrying is that the world’s politicians and policy makers are not. – Professor David Bellamy

We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late… The science is clear. The global warming debate is over. – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Man has reached the point where his impact on the climate can be as significant as nature’s. – Warrick, Joby.

If you asked me to name the three scariest threats facing the human race, I would give the same answer that most people would: nuclear war, global warming and Windows. – Dave Barry

In fact, even the current administration now is releasing recent reports indicating that climate change is real, that global warming is occurring, that it is heavily influenced by man-made objects and that it is something we cannot ignore any longer. – Ron Kind

The answer to global warming is in the abolition of private property and production for human need. A socialist world would place an enormous priority on alternative energy sources. This is what ecologically-minded socialists have been exploring for quite some time now. – Louis Proyect

While human-induced global warming is not going to turn present-day Earth into present-day Mars, global warming is dire enough that our most distinguished scientists recently concluded that as many as 1 million species on the planet could be extinct by 2050 if affairs do not change. – Jay Inslee

It used to be controversial whether smoking caused lung cancer, it used to be controversial whether HIV caused AIDS. Now, there are a few mavericks who deny those things. In the case of climate change, I think the debate is going the same way in that there is a strong consensus that it is a serious matter. – Lord Martin Rees

By: Simon Rosser

We are well into our alphabetic A to Z journey on global warming. C for Carbon dioxide is one of the main players in the global warming problem. Carbon dioxide, chemical symbol co2 is a chemical compound composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms.

CO2 is present in the Earth’s atmosphere at a low concentration, around 0.038% by volume, and is one of many gases that make up Earth’s atmosphere. CO2 is measured in parts per million by volume of air (PPMV). Atmospheric carbon dioxide comes from many natural sources including volcanic eruptions, the combustion of organic matter, the respiration of living aerobic organisms, and unfortunately from manmade (anthropogenic) sources, which we all know from the news is being linked to global warming and climate change.

Since the industrial revolution particularly the mid nineteenth century, the burning of fossil fuels for energy to provide electricity, power factories, homes and for all our transport needs has released massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Not only the burning of fossil fuels, but changes in the use of the land for agriculture and deforestation has further added to global manmade CO2 levels. According to the World Wildlife fund some 29 gigatons which is 29 billion metric tons of CO2 was added to the atmosphere in 2004 alone from burning coal, oil and gas.

If we go back 250 years or so, to pre- industrial times, usually taken to be around 1750, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were around 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv). However levels of the gas have been increasing steadily ever since.

HOW DO WE KNOW THIS?

Well, pioneering scientist Charles Keeling (1928-2005) started taking atmospheric CO2 measurements in 1958 from Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Those measurements have been recorded and are now known as The Keeling Curve. Charles Keeling was the professor of oceanography at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) which is in San Diego, USA, and he followed the work of another eminent scientist and director of the SIO, Roger Revelle. Dr Revelle was instrumental in creating the Geophysical Year in 1958 and SIO’s first programme looking at atmospheric CO2 back in 1956.

Monthly CO2 measurements were collected from a height of 3397 metres (11,140 feet) at the Mauna Loa Observatory situated on the slopes of Earth’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa in Hawaii which was chosen for its remoteness to populations and vegetation so as not to skewer the readings.

Measurements have been taken over a 50 year period between 1958 and present, which show a rise in CO2 levels of 70 ppmv from around 315 ppmv to around their current level of 385 ppmv. The effects of CO2 in the atmosphere can even be measured on a cyclical basis, and this can be seen in the saw toothed keeling graph. Because there is greater land area, and thus far more plant life in the Northern Hemisphere compared to the Southern Hemisphere, there is an annual fluctuation of about 5 ppmv peaking in May and reaching a minimum in October. This corresponds to the Northern Hemisphere growing season. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere drops towards spring when uptake by the plants and trees by photosynthesis is greatest. The opposite occurs in winter when the plants die off and CO2 levels increase again.

Continuous readings in this way have only been taken since 1958, however scientists have discovered that prior to the industrial era, circa 1750, CO2 levels stood at around 280 ppmv and this data has been revealed from air trapped in ice core records, taken from both the Antarctic and Arctic. Perhaps the most startling is the fact that CO2 levels are now around 85 ppmv higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years. Records from ice core records go back that far and have shown atmospheric CO2 levels to range from 180-300 ppmv during that period. The level of CO2 in our atmosphere now stands at 385 ppmv, and is increasing steadily.

The Keeling curve has become one of the most recognisable images in modern science as it shows with no uncertainty the effects of humankind’s fossil fuel pollution of Earth’s atmosphere.

CO2 levels have increased by 37% since pre-industrial times and have been increasing by an average of almost 1.4 ppmv a year since measurements began in 1958, although some months the figure has been higher, sometimes lower. In the last ten years however, the average increase appears to be around 1.9 ppmv each year, which indicates the rate of increase is increasing.

Whilst CO2 is a natural greenhouse gas, and important in natural concentrations to maintain Earth’s climate, anthropogenic CO2 is now pushing up Earth’s temperature. Earth’s natural sinks, like the Amazon rainforest and the oceans struggle to absorb the additional CO2 now being added to the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. It is a know scientific fact that higher levels of greenhouse gases, of which CO2 is a component cause a warming of Earth’s atmosphere. If CO2 is not kept in check and continues to rise at current levels it will eventually cause Earth’s temperature to increase to levels which maybe critical to life on Earth.

By Marie R

The climate has effected great change in the make up of human and natural systems. This is true of changes we are seeing in flora and fauna and the diminishing availability of good quality drinking water.

As the earth’s temperatures rise, the effects of these changes will increase dramatically.

Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge facing the world today. Rising global temperatures will bring changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather.

Hardest hit, and first, will be the poorest countries. The wealthy nations buy and consume products contributing to the emissions, and the poor are unable to adapt to the consequences.

The burden of disease has increased, and is expected to get much worse in the future.

An uneven impact on food production will be one effect. Moderate temperature increases will see a rise in productivity at the global level, but at lower latitudes, especially seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease for even small local temperature increases increasing risk of hunger.

The causes of climate change and its impact on the environment and human health are becoming increasingly understood, and increasingly problematic.

This is not a government, economic or moral problem, but one affecting everyone and we need to treat it as a global problem.

To try and find solutions for the climate change problems, requires strong leadership from our governments and environmental bodies.

Climate change is the result of a great many factors including the dynamic processes of the earth, external forces including variations in sunlight intensity, and more recently, by human activities.

External factors that can shape climate are often called climate forcing and include such processes as variations in solar radiation, deviations in the earth’s orbit, and the level of greenhouse gas concentrations.